Story Sunday – Coming to You Live from Hangover City (Population: Me)
We’re skipping through timelines today, so try to keep up.
Over the course of a few months, I told Lena my suspicions about Ariel and Derek. She denied it. Denied. Denied. She had clearly moved to Denial City and was paying rent.
Fast forward to winter, around Christmas. I had been separated for 11 months at that point. Then, one day, I got the call. Lena was freaking out. She sent me a video..video evidence of Ariel making out with Derek.
Lena was crushed. I felt… vindicated.
I knew something was going on. I had told people. No one believed me. That video? That was hard proof. And yes, it gave me the wildly immature but deeply satisfying opportunity to go off via text.
Ariel and I hadn’t spoken in months by then. I finally cut ties with her in September, but the rumors were already swirling. This confirmation just made it real. And oddly? Strengthening.
I know it devastated Lena, as she ignored the red flags, she ignored me. She hadn’t had time to process what I already knew deep down. But even though I’d had time to grieve, it still cut like a knife.
So yeah, I went off on Ariel via text. Because girl code matters. You don’t sleep with your friend’s ex-husband. You don’t cheat on your fiancé. You don’t show up to someone’s wedding as maid of honor and then go full betrayal mode.
But that’s what she did. All the while begging me to be her friend again, she was doing the unthinkable. Her and Derek’s explanation? It was my fault. They both felt abandoned by me. They were heartbroken. They mourned me together and fell in love.
Yes. That’s apparently how it happened. Verbatim.
Now let me be really clear: I was not jealous. Derek owed me nothing. I had already moved on and was in a new relationship (since September 2023) and for the first time in my life, I was experiencing real, true love.
So no, I didn’t want Derek back.
But Ariel? That betrayal stung. Even months later. Even with distance. History doesn’t just disappear, and vindication doesn’t erase pain.
I was right.
Holy shit, I was right.
But that realization was like the world stopping for a second. Because if I was right, it meant she really was that awful.
Let me spell it out:
I was gaslit into thinking I was crazy. That I was imagining the whole thing.
Multiple people told me I was wrong.
And then, when the truth came to light, I was blamed for it.
AND THEN she tried to manipulate me again into feeling bad.
Apparently, it was all my fault. Everything. I move the moon and stars, didn’t you know? I am the architect of chaos. 🙄
This didn’t just affect me. It affected Lena. It affected the kids. It was a ripple of wreckage, and it hit right around Christmas...one year after the last holiday disaster. Karma? Maybe. But I didn’t want everyone hurting. That’s what this video caused: pain. For so many people.
After that, things blurred. That’s when Ariel started staying over at the gross, empty house. Her and Derek, if you can even call it a relationship at that point in time, were drinking constantly. From what I saw, they were glorified drinking/fuck buddies. That’s it.
I had huge concerns about my girls being around that chaos. I didn’t want her near them. It caused major tension between me and Derek...like things weren’t bad enough already. His communication with me completely fell apart. Co-parenting? A joke. The only thing that changed was now it was publicly known about them. And somehow, I was still being punished.
He didn’t care how this impacted the kids. Only himself. Only her.
And Ariel? She even asked me for forgiveness.
You CANNOT make this shit up.
I am a little delusional sometimes, sure...but this? This was next-level delu-delu. I was right all along, and now I was being blamed for the entire mess.🫠
At that point, Lena officially ended her relationship and engagement with Ariel. Tensions exploded. And this all led up to multiple incidents… and arrests.
The girl who curated her life to look perfect on social media completely lost control. And eventually, she lost it all, including her grip on reality.
Now, I wasn’t involved in all the chaos directly with some of the incidents, but I was there for the aftermath.
Ariel went completely off the rails. At one point, she physically attacked Lena, in front of their children. Lena came to Danica's house (where I lived at the time) where the police showed up to take her statement.
There were multiple incidents. Ariel got arrested more than once. And it got darker from there.
She didn’t like that Lena and I were talking again, so she started stalking. She’d drive past our house, clearly intoxicated, at all hours.
Lena eventually got a no-contact order (which Ariel broke several times). I got a restraining order too. Also breached.
But that whole saga? That’s a story for another day.
Right now, I’m exhausted. It’s Sunday night. I have work in the morning. And going back through this timeline, when everything really fell apart, has my brain spinning. Not how I wanted to end my weekend.
So yeah. That was Story Sunday. A video blew everything open, and somehow I was still the villain. Friendships destroyed, relationships imploded, and the truth came out swinging.
It didn’t make things easier. It just made them real.
I was right all along, but being right doesn’t come with a parade. It comes with silence. With shaking hands. With wine at 2 a.m.
But I’m still here. Hungover, sure, but still standing. And next week? We keep going. 💋
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